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Jana's Picture House
A small movie theater in the Boneyard, Jana's in a cult favorite amongst the city's youth. Thought up by it's edgy owner and named after an equally edgy priest from a century before, it is staffed by a group of jaded teens, and an elderly janitor. History Originally a Watts community center, Jana's picture house would be shuttered due to lack of funding in 2041, and then be used as a hangout for gangs and transients in the decades after. When the bombs fell it luckily managed to remain intact, and would be a place of shelter for survivors until they perished for radiation poisoning. After that it would be occupied off and on for the next two centuries, until an enterprising youth named Ricky Torres reclaimed it. Torres spent most of the early 2260s cleaning it out since it had accumulated almost two hundred years of debris and roach nests, the former attracting the latter. He had cleared it well enough by 2264 that he then switched to what he would use the building for. His initial thought was some sort of pizzeria, but had no real inclination to run or operate a restaurant. He continued to live a small office, but kept thinking of the possibility the structure had. His answer came to him one day as he was walking through the streets, and saw a holo-projector displayed in a shops window. Thinking his building would be a great movie theater, he resolved to get the projector, stealing it three nights later. After laying low until the heat died down, he began quietly looking for holo-films. This strangely enough would be more difficult as he could only find NCRPR copies. He managed to score an old monster flick, and was amazed that it worked. He then began looking for a suitable back-drop to project the film onto, as his wall made a poor surface. Torres scored a sheet in early 2265, and opened his new theater to a test audience in March, and while it was profitable, he found it too much of a hassle to run the business by himself. To that end he would recruit some of the local teens that were always hanging around the neighborhood, offering forty-dollars a week to sell tickets or run the projector. While initially concerned they might rip him off, Torres was pleasantly surprised the kids were more interested in steady money. Needing a catchy name to draw in his target demographic, Torres decided upon Jana, the leader of a fringe pro-mutant group from a century before. While off-putting to some, it did draw in the edgy crowd, who also appreciated the monster flick. The theater would make a good profit for the first several months, but the lack of any film diversity began to hurt ticket sales. To solve this Torres had his teen staff put out any feelers for new films. While a few had 'underground' works that they or their friends made, none of it appealed to Torres. This problem continued for another two years, with Torres having to rent the space out for events to help maintain his profits, before a proper film was found. It was brought up by the janitor, and was a pornographic film from a robot director. Curious just from the novelty of it, Torres agreed to get a copy and played it for the staff in November of 2267. All enjoyed it , with two having to clean the seats from how much they enjoyed it. The film was then added to the schedule, put in the late night time slot. It proved popular with fans as well, many of whom paid extra to leave a mess in their seats. This restored the popularity of the theater, though Torres continued to keep his eyes out for new features, knowing the novelty would wear off after a time. To his surprise however, some customers discreetly asked him if he could get similar films, and said they knew friends who would be interested. Seeing the possibilities, Torres put out feelers to gather other pornos when possible. He would replace his late-night film in 2271, pleasing both patrons and his staff, most of whom were recent hires. This film proved even more popular than the previous, and the janitor was kept busier than before. The theater was rented out for a musical performance in 2273, hosting a band that one of it's ticket takers was a member of. It saw a small crowd, but the idea proved popular with similar bands, and for a time many new bands played there on odd weeks. It's popularity as an event space would fall off sharply after a fire erupted in 2275, killing one, and damaging most of the building. Torres was at home when this happened, and initially did nothing about the damage, waiting on his insurance claim to come through. The payment came almost a year later, and Torres used it to rebuild the picture house, this time adding a fire door. The hardest replacement was finding a new projector, but one was sourced from an associated in the Hub, and another group of teens were rounded up to staff the place. The Picture House made it's grand opening in 2277, showing Swarm of the Molemen for the early showings, and then A Passionate Liberation for the late-night shows. The theater was again crowded during the first few months back, the populace excited to see films again, but like before, attendance would drop off once the novelty wore off. To solve this, Torres again began to look for more holos, but progress was slow as it was before. This time around one of his staff offered up the simple idea to advertise further afield, Which Torres seized on. This has drawn in customers successfully and maintained the theater in the decade since. Torres has considered other ventures in the structure, but has been wary of them, since his insurance company changed their rules about fires. Features & Amenities Jana's Picture House is well known (locally) for it's functioning Holo-projector and it's films, half of which are only shown at night to reduce the risk of children seeing them. For a time the building also functioned as a concert venue for local bands, and even an abortive art-show. There are four bathrooms inside, two of which are hooked up to the sewer system. Category:New California Republic Category:Sites